Kiernan Bierman, a product of the Kearney Health Opportunities Program, a cooperative program between UNMC and the University of Nebraska at Kearney, is excited to be among the inaugural cohort of UNMC pharmacy students to conduct their education on UNMC’s Kearney campus.
Bierman is among nine students to embark upon the UNMC College of Pharmacy’s PharmD program as UNMC’s first-ever pharmacy class in Kearney. These first Kearney pharmacy students begin classes today (Aug. 25) at Health Science Education Center I, in the Douglas A. Kristensen Rural Health Education Complex.
The expansion of several UNMC programs to Kearney, including medicine in 2026, is in large part to help address the state’s rural health care workforce shortages. Bierman, who comes from one of Nebraska’s mid-sized cities, Hastings, said she is looking forward to serving in one of the state’s smaller towns. Going through the KHOP pathway program as an undergrad at UNK, and now joining this first pharmacy class in Kearney, puts that goal of practicing in rural Nebraska within sight.
“It feels one step closer to being able to help provide care and close those critical gaps,” she said.
“It’s getting closer to what you want to do.”
She first thought of becoming a pharmacist as a senior in high school, when, “My great-grandma came to live her end-of-life care with my grandparents,” she said. Her grandpa used to be a pharmacist, and she marveled at how he knew all the right questions to ask when it came to health care and patient concerns.
“He was really able to calm the storm during that time,” Bierman said.
After she saw a pharmacist’s capabilities firsthand, she couldn’t unsee it. It dawned on her that a good pharmacist “helps bridge the gap between patient and doctor.”
As an undergraduate at UNK, she noticed it all the time while working in a community pharmacy: “People can come in and say, ‘Hey, I have this going on, what should I do?’ And the pharmacists help clear things up.” Pharmacists help solve problems for patients who unfortunately might not see other health professionals on a regular basis.
She loved her time at UNK, both the school and the Kearney community, and continuing her pharmacy education on UNMC’s Kearney campus was a no-brainer. This was exactly where she wanted to be. She already knows about half of her incoming pharmacy class and is excited to meet the others.
“A lot of us here come from more rural areas, and there is a drive to return and help serve,” she said.
Bierman said UNMC’s commitment to offering health professions programs across the state – she specifically cited UNMC’s dental hygiene program in Gering, Nebraska – gave her confidence that her pharmacy education in Kearney could be just as good as it would be in Omaha.
There is in fact zero difference, said Don Klepser, PhD, UNMC’s interim dean of pharmacy. Dr. Klepser likes to call it “two locations, one program.”
Pharmacy students at both locations will undertake the same curriculum, often synchronously through the latest in distance-learning technology. Instructors will conduct training from both the Omaha and Kearney UNMC campuses, giving students at each location a mix of in-person and blended technology-based learning.
UNMC has hired three new pharmacy faculty members to be based on the Kearney campus, with associate dean Linda Sobeski, PharmD.
Bierman said she and her fellow Kearney-classmate trailblazers are ready to go.
“I’m excited more than anything,” she said. “It’s been a long trip to get here. It’ll be even longer when it’s finished.”